Quote:
Originally Posted by ecduzitgood
I think the $250,000 Al got was a bounty offered to anyone who broke the world record and he happen to do it. I have not seen or heard of any bounty from any manufactures these days, maybe they should offer one so more anglers would use their equipment.
I couldn't even guess what it might be worth but I hope this season I will find out  . |
Yes, it was offered by the old Garcia company--not ABU-Garcia, but the ones who imported the Mitchell reels in the 60s and 70s. And he damn near had to sue them to get it. Nelson Bryant, who wrote the outdoors column for the NY Times, was really the key to Al getting the money. He brought the weight of the paper to bear and Garcia finally ponied up.
After Uncle and the state of NJ took their cut, Al used what was left to buy a house in Manomet. He fished Long Beach in Plymouth regularly and visited the Canal a few times, and came back occasionally even after he moved to the southwest--which is when things started going into the crapper for him. Mike CC's dad used to have a picture of himself shaking hands with Al on the photo wall, when he owned Cape Cod Charlie's.
Don't believe for a minute that Al didn't enjoy his time in the spotlight, too--no matter what he says today. He used to carry business cards that read "Al McReynolds, World Record Holder, Striped Bass" around with him and passed them out to people he'd meet on the fishing grounds
